Montana Mule Deer District 270

I just spoke with a 270 tag holder who was successful in killing a giant yesterday. I am not at liberty to say anything about the hunter or buck but chances are good that the hunting community will hear about it soon enough :). It is great to know that there are some world class bucks in the district!!! Very happy for that hunter! I am leaving here in an hour or so. Will be back at it in the morning - looking for a giant of my own.
 
Checking in with a heave heart tonight. After yesterdays hunt I received news that one of my best buddies lost his 13 year old daughter unexpectedly. Absolutely heart breaking news and I cannot imagine the pain the family is feeling. I went through the motions today but my heart just wasn't in it. The last two days have been good but still no shooters. The rut is in full swing and bucks are active. I am seeing a lot of familiar deer as I return to areas I hunted the last two weekends. Weather has been warm and there is absolutely no snow. Full moon to boot. Not exactly ideal conditions. I will hunt the weekend and return home. Met another tag holder today - it seems that we are all looking for bucks in the same locations. Hopefully I will have some good news after the weekend.
 
Well, my third trip to the Bitterroot ended like the first two and the 7-Mag still sits patiently waiting to bark. Wide range of emotions and feelings about the hunt so far. Overall I have been having a blast. I mean who wouldn't want to see 20-30 bucks per day and watch some crazy rutting activity? The only frustrating part is the lack of sightings of bigger bucks. I have talked to numerous locals that said the early 2000's were the glory years. As a wildlife biologist I am racking my brain trying to explain what is going on in the district. I would love to site down with some mule deer biologists to get opinions. I'm sure it is a combination of things. One thing is for sure....the deer population is through the roof. I have talked to roughly a dozen tag holders, many that have spent more time there than me and I hear the same story...tons of deer...no big bucks. I do know of 3 monsters that have been killed to date and numerous smaller bucks. Guessing there are roughly half the tags still unfilled. I know there are monsters out there but feeling like I need to change things up for my next trip....perhaps hunt areas more remote. This year is different than some - no snow at any elevation in the district so deer are spread out. I think we might get some weather for the last week - maybe that will move some deer. I will take this week off to recover from this nasty head cold I came down with and hit it hard the last week. As of yesterday, I was still seeing some major rutting activity - I'm sure it will wind down as the season ends. Guess I will find out next week.
 
I ended up taking a full week off to recover from the illness I caught the previous weekend so today was my first day back at it. I got here around noon and was greeted by some sort of white stuff falling from the sky. LOL. Actually snowed pretty hard and dumped a quick 3 inches in the mountains so alas I had some snow to work with. The deer started moving just as soon as the snow moved on. Ended up seeing 17 bucks and about 40 does and fawns. Bucks still hanging with does and saw a little chasing going on. Saw two different pairs of young bucks sparring as well. I was intrigued by a beautiful 4x4 in the spotting scope. He was very tall and had deep forks...other than that he was thin and not very wide. He was with about a dozen does and the other 4 bucks knew not to get anywhere near him. LOL. Today was day 10. I am feeling pressure on several fronts to bring this hunt to a close so who knows what tomorrow will bring. I believe we are supposed to get a little more snow tonight - will make things interesting. Will try to check in tomorrow night.
 
Thanks everyone for your encouragement and following along. I had a fun hunt this morning in one of my favorite spots (deer everywhere) and decided to go ahead and put a close to my hunt. It was a tough decision to shoot an average buck but average is exactly what I have been seeing. I am in close contact with a couple other tag holders and we are all seeing the same thing from one end of the district to the other. Deer are plentiful and there are nice looking deer everywhere you look. None of us has seen a 180" buck. Maybe we all stink at this mule deer hunting? LOL. Maybe the weather conditions kept bigger bucks in the high country? Who knows. Maybe this is normal? I have a lot of thoughts about the hunt and the District. Probably too many to write about. I am happy to discuss my experience with others here in the forum or in PM. For those reading this in future years, feel free to PM me and I will share some thoughts. Here are a few things:

1. Deer in 270 do not have a natural fear of humans - I was not prepared for deer that don't flee. Perhaps the ones that have developed the fear are the one's I didn't see?? Archery is definitely a legit way to go.
2. The district has an extraordinary amount of natural openings and hillsides charred by forest fire. Good optics are a must to judge animals from long distance.
3. The country is steep, steep, steep. Roads are decent but I could see how some would be a nightmare with much snow on them. I did not have to worry about that.
4. There are a ton of elk and whitetail hunters in the district especially on the weekends. Mostly elk but there are a few whitetails kicking around too.
5. There are sheep all over this district....goofy critters for sure. Fun to see and watch.
6. I love my Tikka T3 Lite :)

Thanks again everyone. I hope this is helpful to someone down the road. My apologies to those who probably would have preferred that I didn't start this thread. I feel like this is my honest assessment of the district. I'm not advocating for or against people putting in for this district. People can make up their own mind on that. I hear there are some management changes being tossed around for the district and I will follow those closely. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have a lot to be thankful for this year! Mark

p.s. If you can zoom in on picture of me with deer head on my back...look at skyline above my head :). Just another nice looking 3x3.
 

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Great adventure and awesome job with the play by play updates.
Congrats on a nice buck. Great buck with mass and some cool extras.
 
Really appreciated your effort to share the hunt. My family is all in Hamilton and I know this area well, so it was interesting for me to see a detailed account of the unit this year - I haven't been in there in several years.

Bittersweet that you didn't get the mature cranker you were looking for, but that's still a great buck, and you should be proud of your hunt! Congrats.
 
I enjoyed following along. Congrats on a cool buck! Anything with stickers pointing out the side is special.

I appreciate your assessment too. You certainly put in the time.
 
Thanks for sharing the hunt. I do enjoy learning a new unit - there are so many things you pick up and not just about the "hunted species".

Also, I don't think folks would have anything to complain about with this thread, as you've left out specifics.... but there's always one :)
 
Griztrax said:
Thanks everyone for your encouragement and following along. I had a fun hunt this morning in one of my favorite spots (deer everywhere) and decided to go ahead and put a close to my hunt. It was a tough decision to shoot an average buck but average is exactly what I have been seeing. I am in close contact with a couple other tag holders and we are all seeing the same thing from one end of the district to the other. Deer are plentiful and there are nice looking deer everywhere you look. None of us has seen a 180" buck. Maybe we all stink at this mule deer hunting? LOL. Maybe the weather conditions kept bigger bucks in the high country? Who knows. Maybe this is normal? I have a lot of thoughts about the hunt and the District. Probably too many to write about. I am happy to discuss my experience with others here in the forum or in PM. For those reading this in future years, feel free to PM me and I will share some thoughts. Here are a few things:

1. Deer in 270 do not have a natural fear of humans - I was not prepared for deer that don't flee. Perhaps the ones that have developed the fear are the one's I didn't see?? Archery is definitely a legit way to go.
2. The district has an extraordinary amount of natural openings and hillsides charred by forest fire. Good optics are a must to judge animals from long distance.
3. The country is steep, steep, steep. Roads are decent but I could see how some would be a nightmare with much snow on them. I did not have to worry about that.
4. There are a ton of elk and whitetail hunters in the district especially on the weekends. Mostly elk but there are a few whitetails kicking around too.
5. There are sheep all over this district....goofy critters for sure. Fun to see and watch.
6. I love my Tikka T3 Lite :)

Thanks again everyone. I hope this is helpful to someone down the road. My apologies to those who probably would have preferred that I didn't start this thread. I feel like this is my honest assessment of the district. I'm not advocating for or against people putting in for this district. People can make up their own mind on that. I hear there are some management changes being tossed around for the district and I will follow those closely. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have a lot to be thankful for this year! Mark

p.s. If you can zoom in on picture of me with deer head on my back...look at skyline above my head :). Just another nice looking 3x3.
Click to expand...
Nice work G!! You put in the time and effort and at the end you harvested a nice buck...great memories for years to come! ...........what if I would've texted 30 seconds sooner...?:unsure:
 
Congrats on the buck. Sounds like you had a good time up there.

For what it’s worth, I had a similar experience with my deer tag this year. I couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable hunt. I was seeing tons of nice bucks but nothing huge. Decided early on I was going to stick to one area and get to know it fairly well. Ended up finding a really neat buck that I’m more than happy with. A tiny of part of me wishes I didn’t shoot him just because I had another week to hunt and I had the mountains to myself. I just couldn’t let him walk though.
 
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